Is College Tuition in Texas Too Expensive?

Has college tuition in Texas gone up too much? Some state lawmakers say yes. They've proposed new laws that would prevent state schools from raising tuition for the next two years. Bill Stamps has more.

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Five years ago the state of Texas told Universities they could charge whatever they wanted for tuition. And that's what they did. Since 2003 the cost of going to college has more than doubled. But now some state lawmakers are saying enough. They want to keep college from raising tuition for the next two years. Terry Hartle is an expert on American Universities and says schools have to raise tuition in order to provide quality education. "If tuitions do not increase, institutions will make the adjustments in other ways. They may cap enrollment; they may not expand programs."

Hartle says most states are spending more money on elementary and secondary education as well as Medicaid, so that means less money for their universities. But he says Texas was already one of the best deals in the country before prices went up. And it still is.

"It's not like tuition was 20-thousand dollars and went to forty. It doubled from a relatively low base and the fact is Texas is still not among the most expensive colleges and universities in the country."

Officials at the University of Houston were unavailable for comment but at the U of H downtown where tuition is much lower...administrator David Bradley is hoping lawmakers leave them alone.

"What I would recommend they do is take the state average, what the average cost is to take 12 or 15 hours and if you're below that then perhaps you are left out of this."